QUOTATION: Who Would Have Believed ...?

Truly admirable is the doctrine of Christ our teacher, which however is hidden from the "wise" of this world. For who would have believed, unless God had said it, that it is a blessed thing to be poor, but rich in afflictions?

--St. Robert Bellarmine, The Eternal Happiness of the Saints

QUOTATION: The Christian Life

The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.

-- St. Padre Pio

QUOTATION: There's No Escape

Faced with problems and disappointments, many people will try to escape from their responsibility: escape in selfishness, escape in sexual pleasure, escape in drugs, escape in violence, escape in indifference and cynical attitudes. But today, I propose to you the option of love, which is the opposite of escape.

--Pope John Paul II

QUOTATION: Struggle

All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.

-- Pope Paul VI

QUOTATION: Trials

Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gifts of grace increase as the struggle increases.

--St. Rose of Lima